High temperature superconductors are materials that, when cooled below a critical temperature, are capable of carrying extremely large currents with extremely low loss. The resistance to current flowing through such materials is extremely low. Under ideal conditions, the resistance to DC current is zero and the resistance to AC current is very close to zero.
The introduction of material defects into HTS wire during the HTS wire fabrication process is a common problem. A number of different types of defects occur, for example, fractures, dimples, or incorrect crystallographic orientation. The result of such defects is an undesirable increase in the overall resistance of the HTS wire.
Presently, defects are removed from HTS wire after the lamination process is complete. For example, a defective portion is first cut out of the laminated HTS wire, thus creating a physical disconnect in the wire. An “external splice” remedies this physical disconnect by overlapping the cut ends of the laminated HTS wire and bonding them together by, for example, a soldering process. This process is described in Otto et al., US Patent Application Publication No. US 2009/0298696 A1.